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(732) 528-3700
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Ward Wight Sotheby's International Realty
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Carpet has become one of the nation's most popular floor coverings because it provides additional insulation, reduces sound and gives off an appearance of comfort and warmth. Today, carpet is made from a variety of products and is easier to care for with most lines offering soil, stain, odor and static resistant options.
Carpet is a big decision for most homeowners, especially given the fact that it will likely remain in the home for a decade or more. Home improvement pro Bob Vila [www.bobvila.com] suggests homeowners spend a little time planning before venturing out to purchase any carpet.
"Once you decide to purchase carpeting for your home, let common sense be your guide," says Vila. "Select a carpet that is made for the traffic and activity level of your home, set it on padding that works, keep it clean and soil-free, and you will have a product that will enhance your home for years to come."
Homeowners can narrow down the decision making by taking into account the different types of carpet available. In an industry that once offered only a limited number of colors and quality grades, carpet manufacturers now provide a vast array of patterns, designs, weights, colors and textures to suit any homeowner's preference. Prices can vary from $5 to $50 per square yard.
Cut pile carpet has a plush appearance which happens when the fiber loops making up the carpet are cut on the top. Saxony, velvet/plush, texture, and frieze all fall into the cut pile category. The first two - saxony and velvet/plush - while beautiful are not considered great options for high traffic areas because they are prone to showing footprints and vacuum marks. Textured carpeting hides traffic patterns by using multi-colored fibers that act as a camouflage. Frieze has short, highly twisted fibers, almost a short cut version of yesterday's shag. Its short fibers curl in many directions when crushed, disguising any crushed areas or marks.
Cut and loop pile carpeting uses both cut and looped fibers and is characterized by a sculptured or textured effect created by several different yarn levels. This type of carpet hides dirt and traffic marks and is available in several styles.
Level loop pile carpet weaves even loops of fiber into the carpet backing at both ends and can be created with high or short loops. Berber is the most recognized form of this type of carpeting which is made up of short densely packed loops making it difficult for dirt and particles to filter into the yarns. Higher loops can create a nearly opposite appearance to Berber, looking more lush and comfortable.
Multi-level loop pile is made up of two to three different loop heights, giving off a more textured appearance that also works well in high traffic areas.
Once the type of carpet is determined, buyers then choose the weight, quality and color. "Carpet quality is judged by density and pile," says Vila. "The densest carpets are packed with fiber per square inch. So, the denser the pile, the better the carpet."
Padding and installation are other things to consider when purchasing a carpet. Ask the salesperson what kind of pad the manufacturer suggests for your choice of carpet. Most retailers price carpet with installation included. Homeowners should expect to pay about an additional $1 per square yard if old carpet needs to be ripped up and disposed of properly.


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'Sloppy' Cardinals Lose Game 1 Against Red Sox
BOSTON (AP) - Given a bit of help by the umpires and a lot more by the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox turned this World Series opener into a laugher.
Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after the umps reversed a blown call, Jon Lester made an early lead stand up and the Red Sox romped past sloppy St. Louis 8-1 Wednesday night for their ninth straight Series win.
A season before Major League Baseball is expected to expand instant replay, fans got to see a preview. The entire six-man crew huddled in the first inning and flipped a ruling on a forceout at second base - without looking at any video.
"I think based on their group conversation, surprisingly, to a certain extent, they overturned it and I think got the call right," Boston manager John Farrell said.
Most everything went right for the Red Sox.
David Ortiz was robbed of a grand slam by Carlos Beltran - a catch that sent the star right fielder to a hospital with bruised ribs - but Big Papi later hit a two-run homer following third baseman David Freese's bad throw.
The Red Sox also capitalized on two errors by shortstop Pete Kozma to extend a Series winning streak that began when they swept St. Louis in 2004. Boston never trailed at any point in those four games and, thanks to this hideous display by the Cardinals, coasted on a rollicking night at Fenway Park.
It got so bad for St. Louis that the sellout crowd literally laughed when pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina, who've combined to win six Gold Gloves, let an easy popup drop untouched between them.
Serious-minded St. Louis manager Mike Matheny didn't find anything funny, especially when the umpires gathered in the first and changed a call by Dana DeMuth at second base.
"Basically, the explanation is that's not a play I've ever seen before. And I'm pretty sure there were six umpires on the field that had never seen that play before, either," Matheny said.
"It's a pretty tough time to debut that overruled call in the World Series. Now, I get that trying to get the right call, I get that. Tough one to swallow," he said.
There was no dispute, however, that the umpires correctly ruled that Kozma had not caught a soft toss from second baseman Matt Carpenter on a potential forceout.
"There's five of us out here, OK? And all five of us agreed 100 percent that it wasn't a catch. Our job is to get it right," crew chief John Hirschbeck told Matheny on audio played on the Fox telecast.
The normally slick-fielding Cardinals looked sloppy at every turn. Wainwright bounced a pickoff throw, Molina let a pitch skitter off his mitt, center fielder Shane Robinson bobbled the carom on Napoli's double and there was a wild pitch.
The Cardinal Way? More like, no way.
"We had a wakeup call. That is not the kind of team that we've been all season," Matheny said. "And they're frustrated. I'm sure embarrassed to a point."
Game 2 is Thursday night, with 22-year-old rookie sensation Michael Wacha starting for St. Louis against John Lackey. Wacha is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA this postseason.
Beltran is day to day after X-rays were negative.
Lester blanked the Cardinals on five hits over 7 2-3 innings for his third win this postseason.
"He was locating both sides of the plate. His cutter is so tough on righties. He was pretty impressive tonight," Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said.
Ryan Dempster gave up Matt Holliday's leadoff home run in the ninth.
Boston brought the beards and made it a most hairy night for St. Louis. The Cardinals wrecked themselves with just their second three-error game of the season.
The umpires made a mistake, too, but at least they got to fix it in a hurry.
After the control-conscious Wainwright walked leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury, Pedroia singled him to second with one out.
Ortiz then hit a slow grounder to Carpenter, and it didn't appear the Cardinals could turn a double play. Hurrying, Kozma let the backhanded flip glance off his glove.
DeMuth instantly called Pedroia out, indicating that Kozma dropped the ball while trying to transfer it to his throwing hand. Farrell quickly popped out of the dugout to argue while Pedroia went to the bench.
"I was just trying to slide in there to break up two. I saw it wasn't on the transfer," Pedroia said. "They call you out, you have to run off. There's a lot of great umpires out there. They put their heads together and got it right and that's the most important thing."
Farrell argued with every umpire he could and must've made a persuasive case. As the fans hollered louder and louder as they studied TV replays, all the umpires gathered on the dirt near shortstop and conferred and decided there was no catch at all.
"It was pretty obvious it wasn't on the transfer. The umpires got the right call and we got some momentum," Ortiz said.
Pedroia came bounding from the dugout and suddenly, the bases were loaded in the first. Napoli unloaded them with a double that rolled to the Green Monster in left-center.
Napoli, with maybe the bushiest beard of all, certainly picked up where he left off the last time he saw the Cardinals in October. In the 2011 Series, he hit .350 with two home runs and 10 RBIs as Texas lost in seven games to St. Louis.
The Red Sox added to their 3-0 lead with two more runs in the second. A fielding error by Kozma set up Pedroia's RBI single.
The whole inning got going when Stephen Drew's popup in front of the mound landed at Wainwright's feet, a step or two from Molina. The ace pitcher and the star catcher both hung their heads.
"I called it. I waited for someone else to take charge. That's not the way to play baseball. It was totally my error," Wainwright said.
Ortiz, who hit a tying grand slam at Fenway in the AL championship series win over Detroit, sent a long drive to right-center. Beltran, playing in his first World Series, braced himself with one hand on the low wall in front of the bullpen and reached over with his glove to make the catch.
"At least I got an RBI and we were up four and got the momentum," Ortiz said.
Beltran hurt himself on the play and left in the third inning.
Ortiz homered in the seventh and the Red Sox got another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by 21-year-old rookie Xander Bogaerts.
While St. Louis stumbled, Boston made the key plays.
When the Cardinals tried to rally in the fourth and loaded the bases, Lester neatly started a home-to-first double play on Freese's comebacker to end the inning.
Left fielder Jonny Gomes lumbered for a diving catch to start the fifth. Drew finished off that inning, deftly handling a bouncer up the middle to strand runners at second and third.
Boston almost made a terrific play to finish the game. With two outs in the ninth, Freese hit a sharp single and right fielder Shane Victorino nearly threw him out at first base.
NOTES: Lester has pitched 13 1-3 scoreless innings in two Series starts. He closed out a 2007 sweep over Colorado. ... The Red Sox won their fifth straight World Series opener since losing Game 1 to St. Louis in 1967. ... Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski threw out the first ball. ... The team that won the Series opener has taken the title in 14 of the past 16 years.


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Morning Jolt: Oscar-nominated Palestinian detained at airport
In the news
A Palestinian filmmaker who is nominated for an Oscar was detained at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving in the country for the awards show. Emad Burnat - who made a documentary called "5 Broken Cameras" - his wife and their 8-year-old son were detained by authorities after officials questioned the reason for Burnat's visit to the U.S. Burnat was able to contact fellow filmmaker Michael Moore during the ordeal, and after about an hour and a half delay, the family was allowed to leave. The Oscars are Sunday.
Opening bell
The Dow Jones opened at 13,927.54; it finished down 108.13 points Wednesday.
Motivational quote
"Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves." - Bonaro W. Overstreet
Watercooler talk: Man refuses to take pasta strainer off head for driver's license photo
Motor vehicle workers in New Jersey called the police on a man who refused to take a spaghetti strainer off his head while taking his driver's license photo. The man said he was a Pastafarian, a group that's against teaching creationism in schools, and he wore the strainer for religious reasons. Patrick Jones has the bizarre story.
GateHouse News Service


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When one thinks of America, the word "savings" is likely the last thing to come into a person's head, for the simple reason that the vast majority of Americans don't save: recall that in September the personal savings rate dipped to 3.3%, the lowest since 2009 save for one month.
On the surface this makes sense: the average US consumer, tapped out, with more spending than income, has no choice but to max out their credit card, and eat into whatever savings they may have.
This is usually as far as most contemplations on savings go. And this is a mistake, because at least according to official Fed data reported weekly as part of the H.6, which lists the data on the various components of M1 and, more importantly, M2, the real story with US savings is something totally different.
As a reminder, the H.6 lists the bank sector "liability" equivalents of the components that make up M2, which as most know comprises of M1, or physical currency in circulation at just over $1 trillion as well as Checkable and Demand deposits, amounting to $1.4 trillion, and the various M2 components which comprises of Savings Deposits, the largest component of M2 at $6.6 trillion, a modest amount of Time Deposits, and an even more modest amount of Retail Money Funds.
It is the Savings Deposits component that is of most interest. Recall that the primary definition of a savings account is, naturally, an amount of cash parked with an institution for a longer period of time, in exchange for receiving interest (or no interest in the era of The Great Chairman), which also have a limitation on the number of withdrawals: six per month at last check. Savings accounts also encompass the broader Money Market account category, which has a higher floor requirement than an ordinary savings account.
At first blush one would balk at the concept of a Savings Account in the New Normal: after all who in their right mind would face the counterparty risk associated with having money in a bank, especially money that has withdrawal limitations, if there is nothing to be gained in exchange, because under ZIRP nobody collects any interest, and won't until the system finally collapses.
Well prepare to be surprised.
The chart below shows the time progression of the largest Savings Component: total Savings Deposits at Commercial Banks, which at $5.6 trillion in the week ended November 5, 2012, is also the largest single component of M2, and thus broader money stock of the US (accessible source data via the St Louis Fed).
The chart above hardly shows any slowing down in cash entering Savings Accounts. In fact, quite the opposite. As we have conveniently highlighted, the historic rate of growth in this category of about $200 billion per year, aka the "pre-New Normal" regime, nearly quadrupled to just shy of $700 billion, with a distinct break when Lehman failed aka the "post-New Normal". That's $700 billion per year entering what the Fed defines as a "Savings Account." And all it took to get everyone to scramble to the uncompensated safety of savings accounts? A near collapse of the entire financial system!
This topic alone is worthy of a far greater discussion, because there is a distinct possibility that what the Fed discloses as a "savings account" book entry may simply be a book entry "plug" at the bank level to account for the surge in Excess Reserves into the banking system, after applying an appropriate reserve discounting factor: one way of thinking of M2 is the full lay out of the monetary system using base currency and Fed Excess Reserves and applying a Fractional Reserve banking multiplier. At last check the, multiplier from currency outstanding (1.08 trillion) to total M2 ($10.3 trillion) was 9.5x, in line with the historic ratio of ~10x.
A better representation of the very tight correlation between M1, which captures both currency and physical excess reserves, and M2 can be seen on the chart below.
As can be seen M1 is M2 just with a multiplier factor of ~4.5x.
What has been unsaid so far, is that to Ben Bernanke and the champions of the status quo, money in Savings Accounts would be far better used if it were to be dumped into stocks. After all, the primary reason for the urge by the Group of 30, Tim Geithner, Bernanke and the SEC to crush money markets and to make them even more uneconomical is to pull all the cash contained there and to have it invested into bonds, stocks, and other risky products.
In summary, the more money allocated to Savings Accounts, the more Bernanke's attempts to rekindle the "animal spirits" fail. And while this cash is at least on the surface what is known as "money on the sidelines", the flipside also is that should this money ever leave the "sidelines", modestly at first, then all at once, then the Fed's moment of reckoning will come, as that will be the moment when the Fed's ability to keep inflation grounded in "15 minutes" or less, will be thoroughly tested.
Paradoxically, Bernanke wants this money to re-enter the risk markets, and/or the economy, but not in a way that leads to hyperinflation. After all there is $10 trillion in electronic "money" in the US system, and only $1 trillion in cold, hard cash available for cash claims satisfaction.
All that brings us to the topic of today's post: weekly changes in the amount of cash held in Savings Deposits at Commercial Banks. As the chart below shows, rapid, dramatic shifts, characterized by massive inflows of cash into such savings accounts usually coincide with times of great monetary stress: the three biggest episodes in history to date have been the 2008 Lehman failure, the August 2011 Debt Ceiling Crisis and associated US downgrade, and the May 2009 First Greek failure and bailout.
Those three episodes represent the biggest weekly Savings Deposits inflows number 2 through 4.
When was the largest ever inflow into Savings Deposits at Commercial banks, at $131.9 billion in one week? This past week.
We don't know, but the people who control $5.6 trillion in US commercial bank savings deposits - certainly not the vast majority of the US population who have virtually no money saved up, but the true 1% - just decided to park the most cash on a week over week basis into their savings accounts in history.
Perhaps ask them why they did it...
Source: H.6


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Arbitrator rules A-Rod banned for 2014 season
NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez was dealt the most severe punishment in the history of baseball's drug agreement when an arbitrator ruled the New York Yankees third baseman is suspended for the entire 2014 season as a result of a drug investigation by Major League Baseball.
The decision by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, announced Saturday, cut the suspension issued Aug. 5 by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig from 211 games to this year's entire 162-game regular-season schedule plus any postseason games. The three-time American League Most Valuable Player will lose just over $22 million of his $25 million salary.
Rodriguez vowed to continue his fight in federal court to reverse the decision.
"It's virtually impossible. The arbitration will stand. I think it's almost inconceivable that a federal court would overturn it," said former baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent, a graduate of Yale Law School. "The arbitration is itself an appeal from the commissioner's judgment. How many appeals do you go?"
Rodriguez is the most high-profile player ensnared by baseball's drug rules, which were first agreed to in 2002 as management and union attempted to combat the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. In sustaining more than three-quarters of Selig's initial penalty, Horowitz's decision will be widely viewed as a victory for the 79-year-old Selig, who has ruled baseball since 1992 and says he intends to retire in January 2015.
A 14-time All-Star, Rodriguez has been baseball's highest-paid player under a $275 million, 10-year contract. He has spent parts of the last six seasons on the disabled list and will be 39 years old when he is eligible to return to the field in 2015. He is signed with the Yankees through the 2017 season.
Rodriguez admitted five years ago he used performance-enhancing drugs while with Texas from 2001-03 but has denied using them since. He already sued MLB and Selig in October, claiming they are engaged in a "witch hunt" against him.
"The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one," Rodriguez said in a statement. "This is one man's decision, that was not put before a fair and impartial jury, does not involve me having failed a single drug test, is at odds with the facts and is inconsistent with the terms of the Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement, and relies on testimony and documents that would never have been allowed in any court in the United States because they are false and wholly unreliable."
The Major League Baseball Players Association had filed a grievance last summer saying the discipline was without "just cause."
The 65-year-old Horowitz, a California-based lawyer who became the sport's independent arbitrator in 2012, heard the case over 12 sessions from Sept. 30 until Nov. 21. Technically, he chaired a three-man arbitration panel that included MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred and union General Counsel Dave Prouty. The written opinion was not made public.
In Rodriguez's only partial victory, Horowitz ruled he is entitled to 21-183rds, or about 11.5 percent, of his salary this year, a person familiar with the decision said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the decision was not made public. That comes to $2,868,852.46.
Baseball's drug agreement says the amount of lost pay shall match the number of regular-season games suspended, regardless of days over the season, which is 183 days this year.
Despite the ban, baseball's drug rules allow Rodriguez to participate in spring training and play in exhibition games, although the Yankees may try to tell him not to report.
New York figures to be happy with the decision, which eliminates uncertainty and gives the Yankees additional money to sign Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka or other free agents while remaining under the $189 million luxury tax threshold.
MLB was largely pleased.
"While we believe the original 211-game suspension was appropriate, we respect the decision rendered by the panel and will focus on our continuing efforts on eliminating performance-enhancing substances from our game," MLB said in a statement.
The union said it "strongly disagrees" with the ruling but added "we recognize that a final and binding decision has been reached. We respect the collectively-bargained arbitration process which led to the decision."
Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch testified in the hearing after reaching an agreement with MLB to provide evidence.
"Tony Bosch doesn't take joy in seeing Alex Rodriguez suspended from baseball, but he believes the arbitrator's decision was appropriate," his lawyer, Joyce Fitzpatrick, said in a statement.
"He is glad to have the arbitration behind him and believes he can play a valuable role in the future by educating athletes about the dangers of performance enhancing drugs."
Picked first in the 1993 amateur draft, Rodriguez reached the majors at age 18 with Seattle and was an All-Star by 20. He seemed destined to become one of the greatest players in the history of the game, and appeared in line to break the career home run record — he ranks fifth with 654.
"This injustice is MLB's first step toward abolishing guaranteed contracts in the 2016 bargaining round, instituting lifetime bans for single violations of drug policy, and further insulating its corrupt investigative program from any variety of defense by accused players, or any variety of objective review," Rodriguez said.
"I have been clear that I did not use performance-enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of discipline, or violate the Basic Agreement or the Joint Drug Agreement in any manner, and in order to prove it I will take this fight to federal court. I am confident that when a federal judge reviews the entirety of the record, the hearsay testimony of a criminal whose own records demonstrate that he dealt drugs to minors, and the lack of credible evidence put forth by MLB, that the judge will find that the panel blatantly disregarded the law and facts, and will overturn the suspension."
Rodriguez has claimed Selig was on a vendetta to smear him as a way of burnishing the commissioner's image following the Steroids Era. Both sides have admitted paying for evidence as they prepared for the hearing.


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George H.W. Bush witness at Maine same-sex wedding
KENNEBUNK, Maine - Former President George H.W. Bush was an official witness at the same-sex wedding of two longtime friends, his spokesman said Wednesday.
Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, attended the ceremony joining Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen as private citizens and friends on Saturday, spokesman Jim McGrath said.
Thorgalsen posted a photo on her Facebook page showing Bush signing the marriage license as a witness. She captioned the photo: "Getting our marriage license witnessed!"
In the photo, Bush is seated in a wheelchair, a stack of papers on his lap and his left hand poised with a pen. One bright red sock and one bright blue one peek out below the cuffs of his blue slacks.
The 41st president has deep ties to the area and owns a compound in Kennebunkport, a small coastal town. Thorgalsen and Clement own a general store in neighboring Kennebunk. They were honeymooning overseas and didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Gay marriage became legal in Maine in December.
One of Bush's sons, former President George W. Bush, opposed same-sex marriage and in 2004 announced his support for a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw it. But his wife, Laura Bush, and their daughter Barbara Bush support gay marriage, as does his former vice president, Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary Cheney is openly gay.
A spokesman for George W. Bush on Wednesday declined to comment on his current feelings about same-sex marriage or his thoughts about his father's role in a same-sex wedding.
In July, George W. Bush made headlines when he said he wouldn't comment on the issue, saying he "shouldn't be taking a speck out of someone else's eye when I have a log in my own." He later explained that he just wasn't going to answer the question because he was out of politics.
His brother Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida and a potential presidential candidate, has said same-sex marriage is an issue best left to the states to decide. In a speech in June, he told the Faith & Freedom Coalition the nation needs to be supportive of non-traditional families.


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Falling In Love Again: Face-Transplant Donor's Daughter Meets Recipient
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. Now, a story about renewed hope brought about through a face transplant. Six years ago, Carmen Blandin Tarleton was attacked by her estranged husband who beat her with a baseball bat and poured industrial-strength lye on her face. She was burned over 80 percent of her body and disfigured beyond recognition. Well, since then, Tarleton has undergone more than 50 surgeries, and in February, she received a face transplant.
This week, for the first time, she met the daughter of the face donor, and the two women join me now to talk about that moment. Carmen Blandin Tarleton is in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Marinda Snow Righter is in Boston. Welcome to you both.
CARMEN BLANDIN TARLETON: Thanks, Melissa. Thanks for having me.
MARINDA SNOW RIGHTER: It's wonderful to be here. Thank you for having us, Melissa.
BLOCK: Carmen, why don't we start with you? I know your immune system was badly compromised from all of those surgeries, but you decided you wanted the face transplant, even though you knew there was a really good chance that your body would reject it. Why did you decide to go ahead?
TARLETON: I just felt very strongly that if I ended up finding a close enough match that it would all work out, and I just sort of held on to that.
BLOCK: And when you heard that there was a donor, what did you think?
TARLETON: That night, I was pretty scared. That was the only time I really felt scared. After I decided that I would do it, I just thought that it's all going to work out, and I'm just going to go with the flow and just think of it in the most positive way I could.
BLOCK: Well, Marinda, it's your mother who was the donor: Cheryl Denelli Righter. She died of a sudden stroke, as I understand it. She was really young, 56 years old.
RIGHTER: I know, taken too soon.
BLOCK: I'm so sorry.
RIGHTER: Thank you.
BLOCK: And you had to sign off on the face transplant. I know she was an organ donor, but for a face transplant you had to give the OK.
RIGHTER: I signed off on it when I was at the hospital, and after leaving, I got a phone call from one of my New England donor angels, Dan, and he told me that there is a recipient for my mother's facial tissue. And, you know, at that time, it was actually a no-brainer. I was just kind of blown away by the whole thing. It sounded like something out of a science-fiction novel. The one question that I had for Dan was: Dan, is this person going to look like my mother?
BLOCK: Yeah.
RIGHTER: And he said: Well, no, because the other - the person has a different facial structure, and that will mold to their face over time. And so that was, you know, that was the right thing to say.
BLOCK: Well, I'm very curious to hear about the meeting that the two of you had for the first time this week. Carmen, when you first got to meet Marinda, what did you tell her?
TARLETON: Well, when she walked into the room, I stood up from my chair, and she came towards me, and she said: Can I hug you? And I said yes. And we just embraced and cried. And it was probably one of the best feelings I've had in my life. It was totally unexpected that I would get a chance to meet her now. She's just such a beautiful person and such a giving person and selfless, as I know her mother was as well.
BLOCK: And, Marinda, what was it like for you to see Carmen having received, you know, the face transplant donated from your mother?
RIGHTER: It was truly a cathartic experience. I saw her through the window at the library at Brigham and Women's, and just seeing her profile, I mean, it hit me. I didn't go in with any expectations. I'm like, I know she has my mother's face, and I'm really excited to meet her. And walking in there, I mean, I feel like everything was in slow motion. And I did. I asked her if I could hug her, and, oh, my gosh, I just didn't want to let go.
RIGHTER: And I stared at her, and I think my next question was: Can I touch your face?
BLOCK: Really?
TARLETON: Oh, yeah.
RIGHTER: And instant - just an incredible instant connection. Man, I fell in love with Carmen there, and I've never felt closer to my mom in that moment too, so wonderful.
BLOCK: Oh, Marinda, as you look at Carmen, do you feel in some level like you are looking at your mother or touching your mother when you did touch her face?
RIGHTER: I do. It's kind of a funny story, but my mom, she was kind of obsessed with age and getting older. And she would point out her little age spots, and she'll say, oh, I need to cover up this spot. I'm like, Mom, I never noticed those spots until you mentioned it. And it's funny it was the first thing I noticed on Carmen, and it made me joyous. And Carmen pointed out her little - she had like a little mole on her face, and I said: Yes, I know that. I know that mole. Oh, my goodness, I know that freckle.
And even the eyebrows and the nose, you know - though Dan told me she was going to not look like my mother, she did, and that brought me a lot of comfort. I miss my mother, but, man, what a gift. And she would have chosen Carmen, and I think she did.
BLOCK: Carmen, what's it like for you to look in the mirror - I know you are - you're legally blind from the attack, but you do some sight left. What is it like as you look and see your new face?
TARLETON: Well, it just makes me feel good. It makes feel good that it happened. It makes me feel good that I don't have all the pain that I had in my neck. It just makes me feel good to have some eyelids, so my eyes aren't constantly drying out. And, you know, all - I had so many issues just because of such the lack of function. So it just makes me happy to look in the mirror, and it makes me happy to know that Cheryl was a donor and that Marinda certainly was strong enough to allow it to happen.
BLOCK: Well, Carmen and Marinda, where do you think you go from here? You've met now for the first time. You've seen each other. You've spoken. Does that continue? What do you think?
RIGHTER: We better.
TARLETON: I made Marinda a promise the first night I met her. I promised to be in her life as much as she wanted me to be. It's a privilege to be. It's whatever she wants it to be, and that's the least I could do for Cheryl and Marinda. I'm just here.
RIGHTER: The feelings are mutual. I feel a very strong connection to Carmen, and she said to me, she said, well, you can be my oldest daughter, at our first meeting, even. And I said, well, you know, Carmen, I'm parentless at 30 years old and I love you, so yes. Let's do this. Let's strengthen this relationship. I am just so lucky that she wanted to know who I was, and here we go.
BLOCK: Well, Marinda and Carmen, it's been a real pleasure to talk to you. Thanks to you both.
RIGHTER: Thank you so much, Melissa. I appreciate you.
TARLETON: Thank you. Thank you, Melissa. I'll talk to you soon, Marinda.
RIGHTER: Goodbye, Carmen. I'll talk to you very soon.
TARLETON: Yes. I'll Facebook you and stuff, OK?
RIGHTER: I love it. Much love to you.
TARLETON: Yes. OK. You too. Talk soon.
BLOCK: In February, Carmen Blandin Tarleton received a rare face transplant at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. And this week, Carmen met the donor's daughter, Marinda Snow Righter.
BLOCK: You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.3
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Hospital: Teen who was shot at Colorado school dies
LITTLETON, Colo. – A suburban Denver high school student who was shot in the head by a classmate died Saturday afternoon, hospital officials said in a statement.
Claire Davis, 17, was in critical condition after being shot at point-blank range at Arapahoe High School on Dec. 13. Friends and well-wishers had posted prayers online and raised money to help pay for her medical care.
"It is with heavy hearts that we share that at 4:29 p.m. this afternoon, Claire Davis passed away, with her family at her side," the statement from Littleton Adventist Hospital.
"Despite the best efforts of our physicians and nursing staff, and Claire's fighting spirit, her injuries were too severe and the most advanced medical treatments could not prevent this tragic loss of life. Claire's death is immensely heartbreaking for our entire community, our staff and our families."
Karl Pierson, 18, shot Davis, who just happened to be sitting nearby with a friend as Pierson, armed with a shotgun, ammunition strapped to his body, Molotov cocktails and a machete, entered the school and headed toward the library. Davis appeared to be a random target, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson has said.
Pierson likely intended to track down a librarian who had disciplined him, but Robinson said Pierson's arsenal suggested Pierson intended to hurt many others at the school just 8 miles from Columbine High School.
Pierson set off one of the incendiary devices and fired five shots before killing himself just one minute and 20 seconds after entering the building. He knew a sheriff's deputy assigned to the school was closing in, Robinson said at a news conference.
Senior Chris Davis, who is not related to Claire Davis, said she loved horses, had a lot of friends and always seemed happy. Chris Davis, whose locker is next to Claire's, helped organize a fundraising effort for her family.
Students held vigils for Davis after the shooting. Typical was a story told by classmate Maggie Hurlbut.
"One time I remember I was upset in the hallway, and she came up to me and she just — it was like, 'Hey Maggie, I know we don't know each other well but are you doing OK?' And I told her yeah, and she was like, 'Anything you need, I'm here for you,'" Hurlbut said. "Again, that's who she is, and she just wants to take care of others, and that was really just a good representation of her character and who she was."
Gov. John Hickenlooper visited Davis and her family at the hospital and had asked for prayers.
Sheriff Robinson called Davis "a young woman of principle" and "an innocent young lady."
Pierson's original target was believed to be a librarian who coached the school's speech and debate team. Pierson was a skilled speaker and debater on the team. The librarian, whose name was not released, had disciplined the teen in September for reasons that haven't been disclosed. Robinson said Pierson had made some sort of threat against the librarian in September.
"We are looking into that, to the degree that it was understood, and then what interactions or interventions took place," the sheriff said.
The librarian was able to escape the school unharmed, Robinson said.
Pierson legally purchased his shotgun at a local store a week before the shooting and bought the ammunition the day of the shooting. Anyone 18 and older is allowed to buy a shotgun in Colorado; only those over 21 can legally buy a handgun.
Pierson, whose parents were divorced, lived at least part of the time with his mother in a higher-end neighborhood in suburban Highlands Ranch.
The Arapahoe shooting came a day before the one-year anniversary of the Newtown, Conn., attack in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.


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The political left, like the right, has its science deniers
Pat Cunningham
This blog has a long record of finding fault with the anti-science folks on the Republican right, but perhaps we've been a bit hypocritical on this score.
After all, it isn't really fair to scold the right-wing deniers of evolution and climate change while ignoring the lefties who peddle nonsense about so-called Frankenfoods, birth defects caused by nuclear-power plants and a link between vaccinations and autism.
Glenn Garvin disputes some of these left-wing theories HERE:
What role does science play in the left-wing opposition to golden rice and other genetically modified crops? None. Study after study has shown no ...


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Weight 2.4 kg / pcs Types Mosaics Style Classic Finish Polished Collection Bianco Dolomiti Classic Polished Marble Color White Area Bathroom, Kitchen, Living Room
PRODUCT INFORMATIONCountry Floors offers Bianco Dolomiti Classic Polished Marble as a great addition to our already interesting collections of white marbles. This polished material is not just stylish, but also extremely hard wearing.As such, we offer it in many formats. You may choose from tiles, mosaics, moldings, and waterjet decos. All of which contribute nicely to any design scheme that may be envisioned. Marble is a metamorphic stone with a timeless and legendary history as a flooring, wall covering, paving material and sculptural medium.Think for a moment of the Taj Mahal, the Statue of a David, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and perhaps even your local courthouse or government center. Then, you have thought of but a tiny sample of the cultural and utilitarian impact that marble has had on human civilization for centuries.
- All hard surface materials , except porcelain tiles , should be sealed with a colorless water based penetrating stone sealer ( Dupont Stonetech or equal) per manufactures specifaction..
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Natural stones are products of nature, and no two pieces are exactly alike. These codes are intended as a general guide to how much variation in color, movement, and veining can be expected. All natural stones have unique natural variations and inclusions that are impossible to show in a photograph or sample. For this reason, all stone should be unpacked and inspected prior to installation, as Country Floors cannot accept claims for variation in any stone after install.
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Here's How: Add color to the surface of your concrete patio
Dear James: I had painted a concrete patio before, but it peeled off over time. I want to decorate my new patio by my garden. How can I add a pale pink tint to the concrete surface?
-- Cindy R.
Dear Cindy: A pale pink tint on the concrete should create attractive contrast with the green from the new landscaping. You are wise to choose just a light tint instead of a deep, rich color. A deep color might sound nice, but an entire patio area of it may become a bit overwhelming.
Painting is definitely not a good idea for a concrete patio unless you want to redo it every several years. When it starts to peel in spots, it will look much worse than the plain gray concrete looks now. Some painted concrete can become slippery when it is wet, so it can be hazardous when children run on it with muddy shoes.
Using a concrete stain is a much better method to color a concrete patio. Stain actually penetrates the surface of the concrete instead of just coating the surface as paint does. There are many tinting colors available. Greens and browns are also commonly used to accent or blend with landscaping.
Since the stain penetrates the surface and does not create a skin over it like paint, moisture from the ground beneath the concrete will pass through it without making it peel. Good concrete stain should last for about five years. With your light tint, it will not be apparent as it slowly fades or wears off over time.
If you are a handy do-it-yourselfer, consider using a acid-based concrete stain. This is the type professionals generally use. The acid causes a chemical reaction with the concrete and the tint actually creates a strong permanent chemical bond with the top layer of concrete.
A solvent stain, somewhat similar to wood stain, is another option. The solvent soaks into the pores of the concrete carrying the tint pigment along with it. Depending on the texture of the concrete surface, the amount of solvent stain used will vary significantly.
A water-based acrylic concrete stain is probably the easiest to apply for the inexperienced do-it-yourselfer. The acrylic compound soaks into the concrete and adheres well. This type of stain can produce some very deep colors. Check the packaging to be sure you are actually purchasing stain and not an acrylic latex paint.
If you have trouble finding the type of stain you desire, contact these companies: Bomanite, Increte, Rustoleum and L.M. Scofield. The Portland Cement Association has a publication on staining concrete called "Finishing Concrete Slabs with Color and Texture".
You no doubt have done some barbecue grilling on your patio, so there is likely some grease and oil on the concrete. It is extremely important to clean this off along with other ordinary dirt. A scrub brush and detergent is effective, but a pressure washer makes the job much quicker. Let it dry thoroughly after it is cleaned.
The manufacturers of the stain include detailing application instructions with their products, so follow them closely. If you choose the acid-based stain, where protective clothing and eye protection. When using the water-based stain, check the weather forecast for several dry days.
— Send your questions to Here's How, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley.com. To find out more about James Dulley and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.


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The Arab Revolutions change everything. Or at least: a lot. We have to reconsider the entire picture. It is a geopolitical paradigm shift. But I cannot even start to tackle all this. Let's start with trying to begin to understand this new form of self organising protest. A while ago I made some notes on 'swarm intelligence'. I dropped them as misty, premature musings. Now they make sense to me, in a very concrete way. Here my notes (written somewhere end 2009):
Recently intelligent behaviour of swarms (ants, bees, birds, bats and fish, but also mammals) has been studied and this sort of survival of and by big quantities has been called 'swarm intelligence'. It truly is one of the wonders of nature. Herd mentality is a well known word to point to the same phenomenon but it is old fashioned: the individual is intelligent (at best) but the mass is stupid (by essence). It is a basic ideological presumption of much ethico-political philosophy, from Seneca to the present. Swarm intelligence is a contemporary concept and reverses the logic: the swarm is more intelligent than small groups of intelligent animals. Gnus crossing the river en masse are more successful against crocodiles than the more intelligent but small groups of zebras. A swarm of small birds is swirling so close at such speed that a prey bird can seriously hurt itself if it dives into it. In a similar vein small fish move so fast and close that much bigger predators can't get a prey as it behaves as mist, as an ever changing cloud. Maybe it is this swarm intelligence that could save us. Maybe this swarm intelligence will somehow help to cross this maelstrom of rapids and heavy waters humanity has ahead; by being such a mass of interconnected creatures. But how can we think that massive anonymity of the human herd — a herd of say 10 billion people — as a saving grace?
Well, Tahrir Square gives an idea. Small in comparison with the scale we will need, but huge, gigantic, never seen. Ten of thousands, hundreds of thousands. Nineteen days, nineteens nights. The biggest and longest mass event ever, I think. And, from the side of the masses: peaceful, non-violent. A logistical nightmare turned into a fairy tale. Well, no fairy tale: a miracle (almost biblical, like the miraculous proliferation of breads). Thousands of people to be fed, to be cared for, waste, human waste, wounded people — a field hospital was installed in a side street — and urgent and crucial decisions to be made at every moment, all this. . . . Besides the Coptic Christian who laid down his coat so his Muslim co-protestor could kneel and pray, or the guy who united the sign of the cross and the crescent in front of a camera on Aljazeera, or the women chanting and leading the crowds, the children leading the crowds, all this…
This is it! This is the swarm intelligence we will need! Oh God, was I pessimistic when I made my first notes: 'So far, we see no sign for hope: we use more 24/24 electronic gadgets, more cars, etc. The exponential growth of air travel is expanding our personal ecological footprint at a pace that ridicules all our attempts to sort out garbage or take public transport, etc. etc. No, it will have to come from elsewhere. Slum intelligence as swarm intelligence? Swarm intelligence will be massively important to survive the 21st century'.
But I could not see a light, however hard I tried: 'But will the quarrel of the villagers, the identity politics of the quarters, and neighbourhoods, the factions and interests, not foreclose this? Individualism has become one of our biggest enemies, at least in ecological terms. 10 billion people deserve a car. And they all have the right to travel by plane, no? Logic, Watson. But this madness needing 10 planets or something like that. Human (post?) history… a tale told by an idiot. Or the birth pangs of transhumanism? Or else, a vibrant planet of slums? The beat, the heat, the creativity of a new young urbanised world population. Maybe. Swarm intelligence it should be. But so far we have not come further than ostrich policy, at best.'
Well, again, Tahrir Square has changed the entire equation. Swarm intelligence was just a metaphor for the power of the interconnected multitude of the Middle East. It is a model for a planetarian multitude to come. A planetarian multitude in the making. It is from the squared circle of Tahrir Square — how beautiful it was, this circle of tents in the middle of the square — that we have to build the theorems and stratagems of a future politics; the politics of globalized, and therefore united humanity. After Tahrir Square there is hope again. This can and should be the beginning of a truly new era. It depends on every single one of us if it will come true.
No, it will not be paradise. Just less hellish. If we are able to bring down all tyrants and all tyrannies and the extremisms they breed. This should make fundamentalisms implode. Which will delegitimize neocon Empire even further. As rampant identity politics will wane, so will the legitimacy of the war on terror. Let's cross our fingers. Because, that is just a start, before we can even begin to tackle the Herculean, cosmic tasks ahead: the ecological and demographic challenges. But how to wake up the European youth? How to wake up the American Youth? How strange it is: that wake-up calls in history tend to come on unexpected times and in unforeseen places. I pray that this is not the end. It is just a beginning. This could be truly awesome. But it depends on all of us. On all of us at once. We have to learn to think and move in sync, without leader, without party, without manual. Swarm Intelligence Now!
Lieven De Cauter is a philosopher, writer and activist. He teaches philosophy of culture (in Leuven, Brussels and Rotterdam). He has published several books: on contemporary art, experience and modernity, on Walter Benjamin and more recently on architecture, the city and politics. Beside this he published poems, columns, statements, pamphlets and opinion pieces.
His latest books: The Capsular Civilization. On the City in the Age of Fear (2004) and, as co-editor, Heterotopia and the city (2008); Art and activism in the Age of globalization (2011). He is initiator of the BRussells Tribunal.


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It's tough to deny that Denis Hamill (younger brother of Peter) makes a good point in his September New York Daily News column titled Radical Islamic terror 'flicks' insult humanity far more deeply than an idiot film about Muslims by a felonious con man. He's referring, of course, to the video Innocence of Muslims that's poured gasoline on fire in the Muslim world.
Suppose New Yorkers decided to retaliate and storm all their diplomatic outposts, killing ambassadors and other innocents because we were outraged by an Islamist film that we found offensive? … And, believe me, we have lots more than one dopey fictional film to be offended by.
Go online and you'll find authentic real-life footage detailing radical Islamist atrocities that any rational person would find far more blasphemous to the human spirit than anything in the YouTube trailer that has set the Muslim world ablaze.
Start with these … videos:
1) The beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl on an Al Qaeda website, perhaps one of the most evil videos ever shot.
2) American hostage Eugene Armstrong being beheaded in Iraq.
3) Hooded terrorists killing Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
4) The second plane smashing into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
5) Human beings leaping to their doom from the Trade Center.
6) The collapse of the twin towers as people are obliterated inside.
7) A woman being stoned to death for adultery in Saudi Arabia.
8) The bodies of four U.S. contractors hanging from a bridge above the Euphrates River in Fallujah, Iraq.
Earlier in the piece he said:
I'm having a hard time believing that Islamic extremists from more than 20 countries actually hold 300 million Americans responsible for a single amateur film, an incoherent anti-Islamic screed made by a convicted felon on parole for credit-card scams.
Okay, maybe one or two offended people could be that dumb. But no way could tens of thousands of folks in 20 countries believe the same line of nonsense that this film is representative of the entire American people.
It's tough to deny that, as a progressive, it's difficult to explain the response of many Muslims. But those protesting may be under the impression that the video was the trailer for a mainstream film allowed to be distributed to movie theaters in the United States, as Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was.
At al Jazeera, quoted at Race for Iran, Flynt Leverett provides a likely explanation.
If it hadn't been this film, it would have been something else that triggered an outburst—a manifestation of very, very deep-seated, longstanding resentment in Arab and Muslim societies about many important aspects of American foreign policy toward the region. When Americans think about this, they will tend to want to say that this a cultural issue—that there is something about Islam or that Arabs are insufficiently modernized to be able to keep something like this film in proper perspective. I think that it's Americans who are having a cultural problem here, and who aren't really able to keep things like this film in proper perspective. The proper perspective, at least from the vantage of the Muslim world, is that the United States has been, for many years now, an aggressive and a repressive force in the region."
Also, it must be recalled that it probably wasn't Innocence of Muslims per se that elicited the most violent responses, but extreme Islamists using it to stoke reaction to the film for their own purposes. As Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday (September 23), "news reports have suggested that there was no video-related anti-US protest before the armed attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the three other men."
Cross-posted from the Foreign Policy in Focus blog Focal Points.


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Ever since the first word about Chris Burden's piece Metropolis II started making its way through the halls of LACMA's offices, there has been excitement among the staff. Even before we saw the initial images that came to us from the artist's studio, we were all making up what it would look like in our heads. But we couldn't have imagined how awesome this complex kinetic sculpture would be.
The first glimpse I caught of the piece was in the truly beautiful short documentary made by Catfish's Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. The pair spent three days with Chris Burden at his studio filming the sculpture before it was disassembled and moved to LACMA.
We had two unannounced preview days for Metropolis II in December for testing purposes. Staff and visitors alike stood around in awe.
Here are a few stats on the piece:
- The cars are attached by a small magnet to the conveyor belt that brings them to the crest.
- The only motorization of the cars is the conveyor belt to the top.
- Once the cars cross over the crest and head downward, their entire movement is by gravity.
- They travel at a scale speed of 240 mph, plus or minus.
- The tracks they take are Teflon coated to reduce friction.
- The tracks are beveled at 7 degrees to give added torque for speed when
they come through corners and curves.
- The trains are out of the box electric train sets that run on electricity.
Metropolis II opens to the public this Saturday, January 14. It runs at scheduled times, so check this page for when it will be running. Member previews start Thursday.
Alex Capriotti


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This week's mystery movie was the 1935 Columbia film "She Married Her Boss," with Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Michael Bartlett, Raymond Walburn, Jean Dixon, Katherine Alexander, Edith Fellows, Clara Kimball Young, Grace Hale and Charles E. Arnt. Screenplay by Sidney Buchman, story by Thyra Souter Winslow, photography by Leon Shamroy, editing by Richard Cahoon, art direction by Stephen Goosson, directed by Gregory La Cava.
"She Married Her Boss" has never been commercially released on DVD or VHS. It is available on streaming via Amazon and shows up occasionally on TCM.
Writing in the New York Times (Sept. 27, 1935), Andre Sennwald said:
Once again the lively Columbia studios renew their gift for refreshing tired materials in "She Married Her Boss," the new film at the Radio City Music hall. Last season, when a plague of bus odysseys had eaten away every patch of greenery in that particular pasture, Columbia boldly deposited its players on a bus and made history and "It Happened One Night." Now the studio stakes out the venerable "Office Wife" theme with eagerness and faith, and erects a merry romantic comedy on the ruins. Although it looks suspiciously like what Brooks Atkinson likes to call old hat, "She Married Her Boss" has an irresistible comic dash, and it is briskly performed by Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Michael Bartlett and a superbly impish little girl named Edith Fellows.
As a Saturday bonus picture, this is Jean Dixon and Claudette Colbert.
For Monday, we have a mysterious gent.
Update: This is Michael Bartlett. He made six films, the last in 1937. A high mysteriousness quotient for sure.
For Tuesday, we have a mystery woman.
Update: This is Grace Hale (Hayle).
Brain Trust roll call: Howard Mandelbaum (mystery movie and Monday's mystery guest).
For Wednesday, we have "Oh Him." At this particular moment in the mystery film, he approves of such goings-on.
Update: This is Raymond Walburn.
Brain Trust roll call: Howard Mandelbaum (Tuesday's mystery woman), Sheila (Tuesday's mystery woman), Mike Hawks (Tuesday's mystery woman) and Anne Papineau (Tuesday's mystery woman).
For Thursday, we have a young, slightly mysterious guest. She does not approve of such goings-on.
Update: This is Edith Fellows.
Brain Trust roll call: Sue Slutzky (mystery movie and all mystery guests), Howard Mandelbaum (Wednesday's "Oh Him"), Gary (Wednesday's "Oh Him"), B.J. Merholz (Wednesday's "Oh Him"), Mike Hawks (mystery movie, Monday's mystery gent and Wednesday's "Oh Him"), Anne Papineau (mystery movie and Wednesday's "Oh Him"), Floyd Thursby (Wednesday's "Oh Him"), Mary Mallory (mystery movie and all mystery guests), Dan Nather (Wednesday's "Oh Him") and Sylvia E. (mystery movie, Monday's mystery gent and Wednesday's "Oh Him").
For Friday, we have a dapper gent who is completely lacking in mysteriousness. He most certainly does not approve of such goings-on.
Update: This is Franklin Pangborn and Lynton Brent.
And also our totally unmysterious leading man and leading lady.
Update: This is Melvyn Douglas and Claudette Colbert.
Brain Trust roll call: Mary Mallory (Thursday's mystery girl), Sue Slutzky (Thursday's mystery girl), Beachgal (mystery movie, all mystery guests and peering into the future to see Friday's mystery guests), Howard Mandelbaum (Thursday's mystery girl), Mike Hawks (Thursday's mystery girl), Anne Papineau (Thursday's mystery girl) and Sylvia E. (Tuesday's mystery woman, Thursday's mystery girl and peering into the future to see Friday's mystery guests).


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A simple classic you'll wear again and again and... (you get the idea). Made in 100% recycled sterling silver this essential chain goes with just about everything. From a white tee and vintage jeans to that trusty LBD. Layer up other chain styles and a statement pendant or keep it cool and wear solo.
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Trego County Assessors are responsible for determining the value of property in order to assess property taxes in Trego County, Kansas. The Assessor's Office is an important source for tax records. The Assessor's Office maintains current data on the value of all property in the jurisdiction, including ownership information, maps of property lines, and Trego County property tax records. Many Assessor's Offices also provide online access to property assessments and tax records.
Trego County Assessor's Office WaKeeney KS 216 North Main Street 67672 785-743-5758
Trego County Clerks file important documents and preserve records in order to maintain a public archive Trego County, Kansas. The Clerk's Office also maintains tax records. The Clerk's Office contains records on real estate excise taxes, property transactions, mortgages, liens, and tax records. The Clerk's Office may also have court records that include Trego County tax information. Many Clerk's Offices provide online databases to access tax records.
Trego County Clerk WaKeeney KS 216 North Main Street 67672 785-743-5773
Trego County Recorders of Deeds maintain multiple kinds of records, particularly documents related to property and property taxes, and these records are available to the public in Trego County, Kansas. The Recorder of Deeds can be an important source for tax records. The Recorder of Deeds keeps documents on land transactions, including deeds, mortgages, easements, Trego County tax liens, and other tax records. Many Recorders of Deeds provide online databases to access tax record information.
Trego County Recorder of Deeds WaKeeney KS 216 North Main Street 67672 785-743-6622
Trego County Town Halls and City Halls are the chief administrative offices that run municipalities in Trego County, Kansas. They often maintain records related to the locality, making them a valuable resource for locating Trego County tax records. Town and City Halls keep documents on property taxes, property value assessments, and other local tax records. Many Town and City Halls provide online access to tax records.
Trego County Treasurer WaKeeney KS 216 North Main Street 67672 785-743-2001


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Illinois Republican chairman under fire for bucking his party on issue of gay marriage
Pat Cunningham
It seems that certain homophobes in the Land of Lincoln are UP IN ARMS these days:
For refusing to toe the party line over same-sex marriage in Illinois, state GOP Chairman Pat Brady [above] is now facing an intra-party backlash with some Republican officials calling for his resignation.
In the waning days of the state Senate's lame-duck session, Brady encouraged his GOP colleagues to support the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. Brady noted his statements were made as a private citizen and not as part of his official role with the Illinois Republican Party.
Still, many in the beleaguered ...


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18ct Gold Diamond Tennis Bracelet
Here we have a pretty, elegant ladies natural diamond set dainty slim design 18ct white gold line tennis bracelet. The bracelet measure 2.1mm in width and is 2.6mm deep. It measures 18.5cm in length and weighs 6.4 grams. It fastens with a single tension tongue clasp. It is set with 82 round brilliant cut natural diamonds that are all individually set in 4 claw settings. The total diamond carat weight is 1.84cts, meaning each diamond is approx. 2.24cts each. The clarity of these natural diamonds is SI 1 with a beautiful colour of G. They sparkle beautifully in the light.
All fine jewellery dispatched by Hollins & Hollinshead is carefully packaged and presented in a luxury gift box.
Total Carat Weight: 1.84cts | Width: 2.1mm | Length: 18.5cm | Weight: 6.4g | Clarity: SI 1 | Colour: G
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Notes to a presentation at the Magreb Center, Washington, DC, April 24.
Thank you to the Magreb Center – for Nejib Ayachi for inviting me back. Pleasant surprise. I would note that not accidentally, this panel discussion takes place at the same time as the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund here in Washington DC.
I would add here, that thanks to the help of the Tunisian Community of Colorado – small but active – I was able to spend nearly a month in Tunisia from late November to late December of last year.
My visit to Tunisia was both promising and unsettling. Promising, because the political atmosphere was more open that it has been in half a century.
Unsettling, because the course ahead, as with other great reforms, is not entirely clear and from the point of view of political economy, not much has changed, if anything, but minor tampering with the model that just collapsed.
Classic transition moment
Tunisia is going through a classic transition moment…a moment of opportunity, a moment of risks. Are the changes far-reaching? Systematic? Or are we witnessing yet another example of "all the change necessary to maintain the status quo" more or less similar to what happened in the Philippines in the late 1980s, in Indonesia a decade later: a broad based democratic movement that brings down a dictator but which is followed by little substantial economic or social change?
Has the Arab Spring run its course, stumbled in a sequence of frustrated political reform and civil war, or are we just seeing "Round One" of what will be a long period of turbulence, of struggle for economic and political reform?
A brief rundown of the history of the Tunisian economy is worth noting.
Since the mid 1800s – even before 1881 when Tunisia was occupied by French troops and made into a protectorate – Tunisia has been increasingly integrated into the world economy as a peripheral or semi-peripheral zone providing foodstuffs, basic minerals (phosphates) and tourism to a mostly European core. This relationship has been most accurately expressed in its relationship to its main European trading and political partners – France and Italy – who have long cast an eye on their Magrebian trading partner. A full 75% of Tunisia's exports go to these two countries and this has been the case for a long time. Both contested to control Tunisia, first as a colony and later within the framework of modern globalized relations.
The challenge ahead
The challenge/goal of the anti-colonial movement before independence and the post-independence Bourguiba years was clear: how to move beyond – to transform this relationship and the Tunisian economy itself, how to move beyond the historic limitations set on the country's socio-economic structures by colonialism.
One could say that partial yet limited progress was made. Habib Bourguiba, the founder and first president of the Republic of Tunisia, might not have been a great democrat but he gave his newly independent country a number of precious gifts – a modern educational system that took up at times 50% of the country's budget; a civil code, that admittedly with some limitations was the most liberal vis a vis women's rights in the MENA countries, and a country where the separation between religion and the state was clear cut. While Islamic texts are respected, the idea that shari'a law would guide the Tunisian legal system was rejected.
The political-economic program that the country implemented during the Bourguiba years is referred to by Stephan J. King in his valuable volume The New Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa as 'the old authoritarianism'. Its aims, region wide, were rapid industrialization, social justice and greater equality; the government Bourguiba established was characterized by state intervention in the economy, redistributist economic policies, 'primary' (or key) coalitional support among the lower classes and the promise to use the power of the state to improve the living standards of the general population.1
This model did 'deliver' economically in some ways, but stalled by the early 1980s. The slowing of the Tunisian economy was laid at the feet of the state's intervention in the economy, although the fact that the global economy itself had slowed down and Tunisia's export possibilities to Europe had shrunk some was downplayed.
The years of recently ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali are associated with the rise of what King calls 'the new authoritarian model' which was characterized by one-party authoritarian states, economic liberalization, accepting of World Bank, IMF structural adjustment criteria, extending the prerogatives of the market and limiting the role of the state in economic activities. The old coalitions broke down to some extent and new ones made largely of coalitions between international finance capital and their local partners took shape.
Structural adjustment results hardly earthshaking
To some extent, the new model tried to address some of the limitations of the former one emphasizing a marriage between the state and private enterprise. But a careful analysis of the new model as done by Karen Pfeifer2 suggests that the results were never that dramatic. At best, they resulted in growth without development, a lopsided growth in which investment went into overbuilding urban areas, especially the Tunis region at the expense of the country's interior, a sharp polarization between rich and poor, growing unemployment and stagnant wages for the country's working class, and the erosion of the position of the country's smaller agricultural producers.
For all that, Tunisia, along with isolated other examples, was held aloft as an IMF/World Bank poster child, an 'example to be followed', etc. All that came unglued with the social explosion known as the Arab Spring, which as is well known, started in Tunisia. Is it a case of the operation of neoconservative economics in Tunisia was a success but the patient – the Tunisian development program – died?
Other factors that came into play:
True the IMF/World Bank policies are not the only reason for the failure of the Tunisian economy to deliver. Other factors came into play:
• The collapse of communism in 1989 re-directed what might have been infusions of investment capital away from Tunisia to central and eastern Europe.
• A number of Eastern European countries with their technologically advanced industries and educated work forces became Western European trading partners at Tunisia's expense, especially Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia
• As in the past, Tunisia finds itself trapped in European economic dilemmas. As the European economy stalled and slowed, it affects Tunisian exports and tourism.
• Although far away from the more sensitive Middle Eastern political zones, the Tunisian economy is sensitive to political developments throughout the region. War and instability a thousand miles to its east, to say nothing of the situation in neighboring Libya and Algeria, has dampened investment and tourism.
• Even where aspects of the economy have been successfully modernized and made more profitable, as with the phosphate industry, it has resulted in social upheavals, unrest and environmental crises. In its modernization program, the Tunisian mining work force went from 20,000 to 6,000 in less than a decade. There was little recycling of the profits to fuel other sources of developments in the mining district. And in 2008, a strong precursor to the 2010 uprising took place in the mining district, centering at Redeyef; it was nothing short of a regional rebellion.
What do the changes mean?
What can we say for 'sure' about the changes of the last year? Few trends are clear:
• The old order has been overthrown, a new transitional government has been installed through generally smooth and fair elections – the constituent assembly
• The former dominant political party – the Neo-Destour renamed the Rassemblement Constitutional Democratique – has been dissolved.
• There are certain shifts – I would argue not that significant – in the country's relations with the United States and France, a tilt a bit towards the U.S., a bit away from France – but given the great number of French economic interests in Tunisia, it is questionable just how much or how little this shift indicates. Strategically, Tunisia's position remains fundamentally unchanged.
Economic model ignored
On the other hand, less attention has been paid – a least by the international press and from what I can tell from the new Tunisian elite – to the economic model. It is as if the country has gotten 'half a loaf' of change: greater democracy, yes; but the other half, the promise of greater economic development, has not yet been achieved.
There has been far less open discussion of how to get out of the economic crisis – what might be the short term and long term directions, if any. But if the economic crisis is not seriously addressed the whole project of Tunisian democracy could be jeopardized.
Instead, much political energy in Tunisia has focused upon what might be called 'cultural questions', issues which are by their nature, much more divisive.
During my stay there:
• Every day for a month strikes and protests over unemployment, wages and working conditions broke out throughout the country in virtually every sector – public and private,
• The economy was spinning out of control and foreign companies were pulling out in droves,
• The unemployment numbers were getting worse,
• And while the Tunis region was generally calm and safe, outside of the capitol there was a pervasive breakdown in law and order.
And the Salafists – whose historic roots in Tunisia are exceedingly weak – were on the move, expanding their base, bullying and threatening many, with virtually no attempt to rein them in on the part of the new government. One could see their targets: gaining a foothold in the mosques, the educational system, the media
Let us recall for a moment, the root causes of the region-wide socioeconomic rebellion called the Arab Spring.
There were three elements that seemed to span the region from Morocco to Afghanistan:
• Poverty – as expressed specifically in unemployment and low wage rates;
• Political repression which has been pervasive throughout the region be it in more conservative or more left leaning countries;
• And truly impressive – one might even say 'world class' levels of corruption.
Religion – whether women should wear veils or whether 'moderate Islam' would be a viable model for national development had little to do with the uprisings. But then, as often happens, those who make revolutions do not necessarily come to power, and the 'revolutions' themselves, evolve economically and politically often into something that is unforeseen by those who took to the streets in the first place.
The concern here is this: unless the economic and political causes of the Tunisian revolt are seriously studied and addressed, it is very likely that there will be another social eruption, this one angrier and more disruptive than the last. The 'window of opportunity', the good will offered to those in power is fast shrinking. As the social crisis continues to grow and expand, the choices of the new government begin to narrow: engage in significantly new economic policies or, as Ben Ali did 20 years ago – intensify the repression.
At the time, the October elections were finished, the three-party coalition led by Ennahdha had taken political control of the Constituent Assembly. The political discussion had turned away from the economic crisis and was shifting in a polarizing fashion to cultural and religious questions, where it seems to have largely remained.
My impressions
For all that, I was convinced of a number of things…five months later, my thinking has not changed much.
- That for all its problems that Tunisia has the greatest possibility of emerging from the Arab Spring successfully addressing its socio-economic crisis and to so more effectively than any of its neighbors in the broad MENA region. The relatively smooth political transition was exemplary – much of the rest of the region is now submerged in something approaching civil war
- That despite having been hit hard by both the global crisis and impact of 25 years of Ben Ali-Trabelsi rule, that Tunisia has a diversified economy, one of the most educated and technically skilled work forces in the region.
- That improving the overall situation of the country a two-track strategy needed to be developed – one to stabilize the country in the short run; another to develop 'a new vision', a new direction for the Tunisian economy for the long haul.
- That the model of the past 30 years or so needs – referred to by Stephen King as 'the new authoritarian' – not just 'tinkering' but significant structural changes. Ultimately, despite having garnered a lot of praise, including from the leadership of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, that this model has, in large measure, failed on two major scores – it has failed to produce development for broad sectors of the Tunisian population and it has certainly failed to deliver democracy. It was this twin failure, more than any other factors, that triggered the nationwide uprising which quickly grew to a region wide rebellion…for something different.
- While not placing all the blame for the collapse of the old system on the structural adjustment policies of the World Bank and the IMF, still, these policies aggravated the economic situation, contributing to the social polarization of the country.
- That while a 'new direction' is needed to both help the country out of the socio-economic hole within which it finds itself and to strengthen economic position in the future, such a new vision appears to be singularly lacking up until now. The solutions being offered up today, are hardly different from those suggested in the past, which contributed to the collapse in the first place.
- That the market alone, the private sector, is incapable of addressing the Tunisian crisis which will require both an increased role of the state in the economy and some limitations, regulations on Tunisia's openness to global markets – financial, export or whatever, to put it bluntly – some form of state-run capitalism resembling in some ways the model under Bourguiba, in some ways original.
- Perhaps the most important – for whatever changes the new Islamic-leaning Tunisian government tries to make in cultural matters, that it is quite amenable to the neo-liberal economic policies of the government it has just replaced and that the economic model will most probably not change much.
And as this seems rather reasonable and rational, I am not in the least surprised that there is no interest or effort on the part of the new government to move in this direction…at least not now and not yet…Such a direction might be considered if the economic crisis deepens so much more…but then as it continues to be heading for trouble, perhaps, new directions will be considered at some point. A pity it will take an even more sustained social crisis for a change of direction to take place.
The World Bank and the IMF could make an important contribution to re-igniting the Tunisian economy at this critical moment. But it needs to be on a significantly different basis than its past support.
In the past, unfortunately, the structural adjustment policies Tunisia implemented at the World Bank/IMF behest intensified country's economic crisis, rather than improving the situation. I will cite only two examples of this – but am willing to into much further detail in the question and answer:
Privatization – it just doesn't work; nor does opening capital markets willy-nilly
• The privatization policies were a disaster – they were used by the Ben Ali/Trabelsi families to confiscate state resources for their own private uses and to in part amass the fortunes for which they are now notorious.
• The opening of capital markets – which was supposed to attract foreign investments – never really went anywhere. This was in part because investment capital stampeded to Eastern Europe after the fall of communism, rather than North Africa. It was also because that investment which did enter the country – as was the case in many other places – concentrated in real estate and the financial sector itself in the Tunis region, neglecting the development of the interior and in many cases what might have been modernization of different aspects of the agro-industrial sector.
• World Bank loans did stimulate agricultural development – but in whose interests and at whose expense? It was the bigger concerns that benefited while smaller farmers were undermine, their sector thrown in crisis.
What stands out at present is how little things have changed since. One sees virtually no self-criticism on the part of the Bretton Woods institutions that their policies contributed to the collapse of the Tunisian order, nor frankly, any change in the conditionality of new loans. And if this is the case, the themes that lead to the structural crisis in the Tunisian economy will flare up again, sooner or later… and I fear sooner, rather than later, with the possibility that a precious opportunity – will be lost.
Nor I might add, has there been much indication on the part of the transitional government to move in another direction.
1Stephen J. King. The New Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa. Indiana University Press: 2009, p.31
2Karen Pfeifer. "How Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Even Egypt Became 'IMF Success Stories in the 1990s'." MERIP Reports. No.210. 1999